The use of mesenchymal stromal cells, in association with corticosteroids, can help prevent the onset of persistent and disabling lung damage in patients who have had a serious lung infection. These are the conclusions of research carried out at the San Matteo Polyclinic in Pavia: the results were published in the international scientific journal “Respiratory Research”.
“Although further investigations and shared protocols are still necessary, the safety of therapy with mesenchymal stromal cells has been repeatedly demonstrated,” comments Mirko Belliato, director of Cardiothoracic Intensive Care, who conducted the study together with Patrizia Comoli and Maria Antonietta Avanzini. “Its potential in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome and in the prevention of post-inflammatory pulmonary fibrosis could represent a new therapeutic strategy,” adds Belliato.
Therapeutic possibilities for patients with pulmonary outcomes of acute respiratory distress, such as postinflammatory pulmonary fibrosis, are still limited. For the most serious cases of this pathology, the only definitive treatment to date remains lung transplantation. However, numerous preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells “could represent a promising therapeutic approach in several lung disorders, and their potential for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome and the prevention of postinflammatory pulmonary fibrosis has been studied.” during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
From April 2020 to April 2022, four patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome related to Covid19, admitted to the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit at San Matteo, were treated with mesenchymal stromal cells produced by the Cell Factory at San Matteo. The outcome was positive: they completed treatment and were discharged from the intensive care unit.
